JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
In addition to improving their emergency response expertise during a basic special weapons and tactics course, the 802nd Security Forces Squadron also fostered their relationship with civilian entities who respond alongside them in real world situations.
During a 60-hour, five-day course at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Oct. 9-13, Special Weapons and Tactics experts from the Alamo Area Council of Government taught 802nd SFS Defenders and deputies from the Frio County Sherriff’s Department room clearing, hostage situations and active shooter responses. At the end of the course all were awarded their Basic SWAT certification.
“Not only was it a chance for us to sharpen our skills, it also put us on a similar standard with all the civilian entities in San Antonio that will be responding with us in a real-world situation,” said Capt. Nathaniel Lesher, 802nd SFS operations officer.
Lesher believes teamwork between Defenders and San Antonio police is crucial during a real-world emergency.
“The biggest thing is the military has to work with civilian entities,” said Lesher. “They’ll be responding with us and if it’s the first time we’re ever working with them or we’re doing things completely differently, it’s not going to be an effective response.”
Senior Airmen Travis Counts, a canine handler with the 802nd SFS, experienced the training first-hand and said the relationship built between Defenders and San Antonio police goes to a deep, personal level.
“We had a really good relationship with them,” said Counts. “They all gave us their personal phone numbers and email addresses so we could call them if we had any questions.”
Having such a great relationship with experienced members of the civilian sector is extremely beneficial for a Defender’s development as well in emergency situations said Counts.
“It helps us in future emergency response definitely,” said Counts. “It’ll be much easier to respond having worked with them before, and they’ve had years of experience, each instructor has been on SWAT teams for 10 plus years. They definitely have a lot of knowledge that helped us, a lot of cool little tricks.”
Working with civilian entities provides many practical benefits, but it also comes with a discount, said Lesher.
“This training saves us a lot of money,” said Lesher. “If we were to send the entire team on temporary duty for this, you’re talking for a one week training course close to $30,000 or $40,000. We accomplished it for less than $10,000. We’re talking a tremendous amount of money.”
Master Sgt. Ricky Bradley, NCO in charge of operations with the 802nd SFS, added that working with civilian entities makes things possible that wouldn’t be otherwise.
“Working with them opens up a lot of possibilities,” said Bradley. “Courses that we as an Air Force usually can’t get due to funding.”
Bradley added training like this will not be an isolated occurrence.
“In the future we’re going to be doing an advanced SWAT course with the same entity this winter,” said Bradley. “We’re really looking forward to working with them again.”